City of Basketball Love

Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
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Neumann-Goretti knew coming into Wednesday’s PIAA Class 4A second round game against unbeaten Wyomissing — a rematch of N-G’s 40-33 loss in this same round last season — that it needed to make its outside shots in order to combat the Spartans’ 6-foot-1 junior forward Amaya Stewart.

The Saints didn’t have the size to match up with Stewart, who scored a game-high 33 points and secured 11 rebounds, but junior guard Carryn Easley had heart in making sure her team pushed the Spartans to the brink in a 62-52 loss at Pottstown High’s Strom Gymnasium.

“We went down early and were able to come back,” said Easley, who scored a team-high 22 points with five assists, three rebounds, and three steals. “We didn’t fall apart. We stayed together and played together as a team, but things didn’t go our way toward the end.”

The Saints (19-7) fell behind 9-0 early and were down 18-5 after the first quarter; their nightmare scenario was playing out as Stewart had nine points in the quarter while they shot only 2-for-16 from the field.

Then Easley started showing that N-G has a chance in any game in which she’s on the floor and the vast improvements she’s made this season since scoring eight points in the Saints’ disappointing season-ending loss to these Spartans last year.

The 5-4 junior point guard hit a floater halfway through the second quarter to cut the lead to 24-10 shortly after the Spartans (30-0) took their largest lead of the game.

She made a compact dribble crossover move to the basket that completely broke Wyomissing’s vaunted zone defense a few plays later to cut the deficit to 10. 

Another drive to the rim reduced Wyo’s lead to six at 2:36, her free throws made it 26-22 with 37 seconds left, and her assist on Kamora Berry’s 3 right before the halftime buzzer had the Saints within striking distance at 28-25.

Easley took over the game for N-G in the third, scoring nine points and picking up two steals and two assists as the Saints took a 41-39 lead to the final quarter after she converted two free throws following a steal with 3.7 seconds left.

“[Neumann-Goretti head coach Andrea Peterson] has said she has two of the best guards in the country,” Wyomissing head coach Aaron Anders said. “That team is what it is because of that. They’re a solid, solid team and we knew that was going to be the case. They did a really nice job.”

Stewart scored to start the fourth and tie the game but Easley assisted on another Berry 3 to give the lead back to N-G.

Wyomissing starter Kacey Maggs then fouled out with 6:38 left and it started to look gloomy for the undefeated Spartans.

Stewart scored again after a vicious dropstep and then Wyomissing senior Annie McCaffrey, a University of Massachusetts soccer commit, drilled a pivotal 3-pointer to give the Spartans a 46-44 lead with five minutes to go.

“She came down, hit a big shot, and we struggled after that,” Peterson said. “It was like we couldn’t get our momentum back.”

Easley scored to tie it again before Wyo’s Audrey Hurleman, a University of North Carolina lacrosse commit, converted two free throws to give the Spartans the lead for good.

Stewart’s back-to-back three-point plays ensued to make it 54-47 with 2:59 left.

Easley hit a 3 with 1:43 remaining to cut the lead to four, but Hurleman and McCaffrey closed the game out at the foul line.

“A couple missed shots changed the dynamic of the game,” Peterson said. “We were down by 13 in the first quarter. We came back and made adjustments, but so did they. It was a heck of a game.”

Wyomissing moves on to face District 7 champ North Catholic in the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals Saturday.

By Quarter
Neumann-Goretti:  5 |  20 |  16  |  11 ||  52
Wyomissing:   18   |  10  |  11  |  23 ||  62

Scoring
Neumann-Goretti: Easley 22, Baker 11, Berry 9, Scott 5, Coston 5, Richardson 0.
Wyomissing: Stewart 33, McCaffrey 13, Hurleman 12, Hardy 3, Maggs 1, Hyde 0.

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5A: East’s run ends at the hands of BeCaHi

West Chester East girls basketball had never played in the second round of states until Wednesday. 

That fact doesn’t make the Vikings’ 46-28 loss to District 11 champ Bethlehem Catholic in the PIAA Class 5A second round at Pottstown High’s Strom Gymnasium sting any less.

“A lot of us have been together since my sophomore year,” senior Annie Kerns said. “We’ve built a lot of team chemistry over the years. Off the court we’re truly all best friends and we want to spend as much time as possible together.

“That just translates to good energy, practices, and a supportive environment. We all try to push each other and aren’t afraid to give each other tough love. I think that’s made us so much better.”

Kerns scored five of her team-high 11 points and sophomore Carly Bickle had all four of her points in the first quarter as the Vikings (19-10) trailed 11-9.

Mercyhurst commit and senior Cici Hernandez had four of her eight points and senior Akasha Santos four of her 12 in the quarter for Becahi.

Six different players scored in the second quarter for the Hawks (22-5), who broke the game open with a 14-2 run.

“Lack of patience,” East head coach Erin Listrani said. “We didn’t show good patience against their zone and weren’t getting good shots. We weren’t being us in the way that we push the ball, set the tempo, and run in transition.

“At halftime we talked about those two things and you saw the response. The way we started the third quarter; that’s us.”

Kerns hit a 3, junior forward Sofia Keith scored a bucket then got a block and rebound, and sophomore Lauren Horan scored shortly after to cut Becahi’s lead to 25-18 to start the third quarter.

Bickle then took a charge before the Knights, who won PIAA titles in 2019 and 2017, locked in and finished the quarter on an 8-2 run. 

Becahi senior Ella Bincarosky had six of her 11 points in the third. Santos had six points and the Hawks shot 11-for-14 from the foul line to clinch the win in the fourth.

Kerns plans to head off to college and major in business in a few months, but the mark she and fellow seniors Kayla Miller and Alexa Rodgers have left on Listrani’s program leaves the Vikings with the potential to reach even higher in the future. 

“We don’t have [BeCaHi’s] history,” Listrani said. “But I know we have a bright future. The milestones that these guys created and the progression that this senior class has made to help develop this program is unforgettable.”

East went 8-6 in Kerns, Miller, and Rodgers’ freshman season before struggling their sophomore season and winning a district playoff game last year.

The Vikings went all the way to the Ches-Mont championship, finished fourth in District 1, and won a state playoff game. That’s nothing to scoff at.

Four starters — Annalise Kubasko, Keith, Bickle, and Horan — are back as well as key bench piece Kayla Cochran. The cupboard certainly isn’t bare.

“We have some great underclassmen and more importantly, we have some all-around great kids that love to be around each other,” Listrani said. “They buy into the commitment and I know they’re sad right now, but I also know they’re hungry for more.”

The Vikings’ hope is to continue building toward a pedigree such as two-time state champ Becahi, which will move on to face District 2 runner-up Abington Heights, Saturday in the quarterfinals. Abington Heights defeated Bishop Shanahan 40-35.

By Quarter
WC East:  9 |  2 |  9  |  8  ||  28
Bethlehem Catholic:   11   |  14  |  8  |  13  ||  46

Scoring
WC East: Kerns 11, Kubasko 5, Bickle 4, Keith 4, Sweeney 2, Horan 2.

Bethlehem Catholic: Santos 12, Bincarosky 11, Hernandez 8, Brame 8, Nickischer 3, Jones 3, Britt 1.

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PIAA 4A Girls (local games)

First Round (Sat., March 9)
1-1 Villa Joseph Marie 54, 12-4 Prep Charter 22
3-2 Delone Catholic 53, 1-2 Pope John Paul II 19
3-1 Wyomissing 43, 12-5 Engineering & Science 22
12-1 Audenried 75, 3-6 Eastern York 34
12-2 Nazareth 55, 3-3 Bishop McDevitt 39
12-3 Neumann-Goretti 65, 11-2 Blue Mountain 43

Second Round (Wed., March 13)
2-2 Valley View 64, 12-1 Audenried 46
2-1 Scranton Prep 58, 1-1 Villa Joseph Marie 39
4-1 Central Columbia 50, 12-2 Nazareth 37
3-1 Wyomissing 62, 12-3 Neumann-Goretti 52

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PIAA 5A Girls (local games)

First Round (Sat., March 9)
1-4 West Chester East 57, 12-2 Freire Charter 30
12-3 Dallas 43, 1-2 Villa Maria 41
2-2 Abington Heights 64, 12-3 Archbishop Ryan 26
2-1 Scranton 55, 12-4 Palumbo 20
11-1 Bethlehem Catholic 41, 1-5 Gwynedd Mercy 35
1-3 West Chester Rustin 40, 11-2 Whitehall 10
12-1 Archbishop Wood 55, 1-6 Radnor 43
1-1 Bishop Shanahan 38, 3-7 Mechanicsburg 27

Second Round (Wed., March 13)
2-2 Abington Heights 40, 1-1 Bishop Shanahan 35
11-1 Bethlehem Catholic 46, 1-4 West Chester East 28
2-1 Scranton 58, 1-3 West Chester Rustin 49
12-1 Archbishop Wood 66, 12-3 Dallas 32

Quarterfinals (Sat., March 16)
2-1 Scranton vs. 12-1 Archbishop Wood